Released
by ploThief
Summary: Sonic thought his life was back to normal. no more weird transformations, no more Dark Gaia, no worries. Right? rating may go up.
1. prolouge

**Disclaimer from the beginning to end: All recognizable characters belong to SEGA**

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**Prologue**

The world seemed to hold its breath as the blue blur streaked across the land, his heartbeat echoing in the bright sun-filled sky. _Almost there_, the spiky hedgehog thought, securing his grip on a tightly wrapped bundle. He could see his friends on a beach, frantically waving their arms, screaming out his name. One of them, a yellow twin-tailed fox, gave a warning: 5 seconds.

_5 seconds_. His jade green eyes narrowed with determination. _I gotta make it_. He quickened his pace.

4 seconds. He jumped up, sailing clear over his friends' astonished faces.

3. Untying the bundle, the hedgehog grabbed a chilidog before tossing the others to the picnic table.

2. The food landed neatly in a pile just before the blue hedgehog did, his red sneakers gleaming softly in the sand.

1. Sonic bit into his chili dog and took a bow. "What? Didn't think I could do it?"

His friends exploded into cheers.

"That was amazing!" Squealed a pink hedgehog as she threw her arms around Sonic.

"Jeez, Amy. I only brought chili dogs faster than most people." Sonic retorted, trying to escape her death grip. "It's not like I, what? Saved the world like I do every other day."

"Nevertheless, you did break your last delivery record in half like you wanted to. Last time it was two minutes, now it's a minute" the yellow fox pointed out.

"You got me there Tails." Sonic chuckled as he finished the last of his dog. "Maybe next time I'll do it in 30 seconds, but only if Knuckles over there doesn't make a special order like he did this time. Do you know how long that took?" He scoffed at the red echidna. "You're such a picky eater."

"Who are you calling picky?" Knuckles yelled back. "I just don't like them putting a lot of chili on it, and it can only have diced onions, and the relish…"

Sonic rolled his eyes and continued conversing with Tails as the echidna babbled on. "So when's this solar eclipse thing gonna happen? It would be pretty uncool if we miss it and have to wait another decade."

"If my calculations are correct, it will happen in a few minutes. But we'll have time to spare."

"If you say so, lil' bro." he grinned. "Come on, let's eat. I bet we'll finish before knucklehead is with his list."

* * *

_Somewhere deep inside the earth….._

"Is it time?" A voice barked out, making the two neon blue creatures it was addressing jump.

"Yess ssir." One of them replied, not daring to look up at the speaker. "In a matter of minutess darkness will cover the day, and our Masster will be able to begin to sstir."

"Good" the voice gruffed out, flashing a glint of light as a set of fangs smiled in the shadows. "Now all we have to do is keep the light covered until the awakening, and when awake, our Master will take over the world! Prepare the troops." The voice began to fade as footsteps clanked out of the room. "We will be leaving immediately. Victory will be ours!" the voice was gone.

"Oh yess, victory will be ourss." One of the creatures whispered. "But you and your 'Masster' won't be part of it."

The beasts snickered together and walked out.

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**A/N: If any viewers recognize this story it is because it is posted on another website under another name the author goes by. The author would like to inform you that this is an old uncompleted story posted out of boredom, so the beginning chapters have only been tampered with a little or not at all. The author thanks you asked you to please feel free in commenting any thought or concern you would like to share**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After a quick meal, the gang got ready for the event. Tails sat in a boat setting up equipment (for better scientific readings) while the others splashed around and waited. Sonic was the only one not in the water, sitting instead on the shore and watching the others, trying not to get his shoes wet.

"Look guys, its starting!" A shadow had touched the sun, slowly inching its way across the light.

Everyone was captivated as the sun became only a thin halo, barely illuminating the land. Tails however, began to frown as he peered at it through a telescope.

"That's weird," he murmured as he checked the scope's lens. "I could have sworn I saw something in that shadow. Like hundreds of little bugs."

Tails was wrong. It wasn't hundreds, it was thousands. Thousands of Dark supernaturals packed together in ranks, charging the sun. But why the sun? Simple. Because like the shadow wasn't just a "shadow", the sun wasn't just the "sun". It was the birthplace of the sun medals. A symbol of hope for every moral soul. It was the major power source of Light Gaia.  
Destroy that source, and light Gaia would be powerless against its counterpart: Dark Gaia. And what better time to extinguish that source than when the sun's power is negated by the moon's? Now though it was a risky move to leave Dark Gaia's main powerhouse vulnerable as well, it was a gamble worth taking.  
The stakes were high. These darklings knew this as they watched their first rows vaporize under the rain of fiery catapults. Dark Bees and the rest of the aerial forces went to deal with them, nimbly dodging the assaults while shooting back energy comets of their own. This was a relief, but it didn't last long. Voinstein –stone warriors- emerged; dripping out pebbles and grass tuffs as they steadily marched towards the invaders. Along with them were hundreds of supernatural beings, anthropomorphic and human alike, raising up a battle cry.  
Yes, the stakes were high for these dark ones, but this didn't mean they were going down without a fight. Especially not one anthro. He roared back a challenge and sprinted head-on on all fours. Just as he was about to reach the front, he jumped. Now "air" born, Light Gaia's army could clearly see this bulky figure; a giant target in plain sight. Already a few were taking aim for this easy kill. The werehog grinned.  
Immediately his massive midnight blue arms shot down, stretching out at impossible lengths towards his goals. One hand picked off two armored Light warriors a few feet below, who yelped in surprise as they were wrenched back towards the werehog. Before they could react, the poor fellows were bombarded with well-aimed attacks meant for their kidnapper, who had raised them up to take the brute force. While using this new "shield", the blue beast embedded his other arm into a Voinstein like a grappling hook and reeled his way down. The gutted Voinstein struggled to hold its ground. Using the spiked soles of his red shoes, the dark werehog crushed the rest of the Voinstein and flung the used corpses to the closest enemies he saw. The rest was chaos. With fangs and claws he fought, leaving only destruction as encountered foe after foe. None seemed to match his strength as he hacked away through the fronts and it seemed no one could stop him. However, despite all of this carnage, the monster had not done this out of bloodlust (okay, maybe he did it a little). His job was to lead his soldiers first into Light Gaia's bastion when the aerial extinguished the catapults when the opportunity presented itself; now was the time. He let out a triumphant howl that scared his enemies and troops alike and cried, "Second unit, to me!" Stretching out his enormous hands, he toppled over a portion of the enemies' forces, leaving a clear pathway to the front of the fortress. With the last defenders taken care of and an open route to Light Gaia's power source, the Dark army eagerly rushed to the bastion, the smirking werehog taking the lead. Victory would be theirs!

And that's when everything went wrong.

A weird cry pierced the air, a signal of some sort, and a third of Dark Gaia's army fled. Just stopped what they were doing, and headed straight to the earth. Both groups were taken aback, especially the remainder of Dark Gaia's army.  
"What?!" the usual predatory gleam of the werehog was replaced with surprise as some of his own troops rushed past him. "What is the meaning of this?" he would of grabbed one of the fleeing forces, but a fiery light knight, emblazing in golden armor, caught his attention as it almost decapitated him with its sword. A lot of Light Gaia's army was striking back as well, realizing that their foes were now outnumbered. The werehog tried his best to continue the mission, but his confusion and frustration of this strange occurrence muddled his thoughts. Plus there was the fact the golden knight he was battling was very skilled with its sword. He managed to avoid a quick swipe of its sword since his heavy pelt protected him from most serious harm, but instead he took the full force of the foe's armored fist to the face.  
K.O. The blow sent him tumbling. Down, down, down he fell; watching the battle shrink away as the earth's gravity took hold of him. He saw the remainder of Dark Gaia's army retreating to the moon, and it wouldn't be long till they moved it, which meant bad news for him. Whenever light touched servants of Dark Gaia, the power would slowly burn them away until they were nothing left but a pile of dust. That's why they only came out where light wasn't strongly present or when the sun went down or in rarer cases such as now, the power of the sun was nullified. But now that the moon wasn't blocking the sun…

**Splash!**

His surroundings where submerged in water. Salt water, to be exact. He could tell by the pain in his eyes, which are extremely more sensitive because of his enhanced sight. Despite the aching, he kept his eyes open. The anxious anthro had to find some shelter, fast. The sun was completely out, and though the water blocked the sunlight from instantly touching him, it would eventually get him. So that meant he had to use these precious moments to get to safety. He could try to swim to the bottom where Light Gaia's power couldn't reach him, but he would run out of oxygen before making it and even now he felt some slight stinging of his skin. That only left the option of finding a capsule close by, a vessel of some sort to inhabit until night again. Maybe there was a sea creature close by? Or some mortal swimming about, perhaps? The werehog saw various shapes floating around and he swam toward them eagerly, but they turned out to be pieces of wood and metal. he growled and tried again, only to end up with a hunk of a broken machine, which he dropped from the new excruciating pain on his blistering gray hands and muzzle. Time was running out. the blue beast grabbed around wildly, but came up empty handed. just when he was giving up, something caught his attention. Through his blurred vision he saw some golden light glittering on and off, as if it was moving on its own. He desperately swam towards it, but the scorching pain was too much. In his final efforts, the stubborn werehog stretched its charred arm out and grabbed it. Flesh! The mortal kicked the werehog's hand, causing him to let go as singed flesh and fur fell from him. He gritted his teeth and tried again, getting a firm grip on its thin leg. He dug his claws in its skin as his own began to shrivel away, willing his conscience, himself, into the temporal body. He felt himself fading, but from which process? Either way, it would mean all the difference to him later on.

* * *

Something was wrong. Very wrong. Sonic sensed it before Tails saw it. Sonic stood up.  
"Get out of the water!" Tails started the boat. Already some of the black spots were getting closer. The rest of the group didn't notice, their attention directed to Sonic.  
"What?"  
"Get out now! There's-"

_WHOOSH!_

Sonic was flung backwards as the objects collided with the earth. One hit the boat, which exploded into smithereens.

"Tails!" Sonic saw that the others were trying to find his friend. He also saw he had other matters to attend to. Arising from the craters around him were purple monsters with neon pink patterns that glowed in the still darkened sky.  
"Nightmares? I thought you guys were gone!" The creatures clicked and hissed in response, moving in closer to surround him. Sonic shrugged. "Oh well, I guess not. But tell me; did you guys come back for the attempt of some revenge? Or do y'all just enjoy getting your butts kicked?"

The Nightmares replied just how Sonic expected: they attacked. He casually stepped out of the way as a few tried to pounce on him and sprayed sand at the other ones' eyes. He didn't really know if sand would hurt a Nightmare's eyes, but it turned out that it does. A lot. The blinded Nightmare's screeched in pain and rubbed at their eyes vigorously. One even seemed to go berserk and began to attack around instinctively, killing a lot of its fellow friends in the process.

"Five down, six more to go." Sonic jumped over to the dog pile of Nightmares that tried pouncing on him earlier which were having a hard time getting up.

"I figured you guys weren't the smartest tools in the shed, but this is ridiculous!" he sighed as one attempted to swipe at him but toppled over as another tried to free its leg. "Maybe I should help. Were should I start?"

He zipped around and around the pile, their eyes trying to keep up with him. "Here? Or maybe here. Or how about you?" by the time a Sonic turned into a blue blur, the Nightmares were too dizzy to notice that the circumference he formed around them collapsed and sucked them into a deep pit.

"Oh jeez, I didn't mean to make the situation worse. Who knew that running at high speeds would create a hole in the ground?" the grinning hedgehog peered down at them while rubbing his nose. "And now once you finish entangling yourselves, you gotta climb up some slippery sand. My bad, guys." He turned around just in time to receive a punch to the face from a very red-eyed, very angry Nightmare.

Sonic stumbled a bit backwards and in his daze the Nightmare grabbed his arm and lifted him up. "Oww. Whatcha do that for?" he looked up to see the red eyed Nightmare, eyes burning at him with pain and fury. "Ohh, I see. But in my defense, the red eyes really do go with your ugly mug. Wait, that is the style you're going for, right?" The creature dug its claws into his thin peach colored arm. Sonic winced. "I guess not." He tried to escape, but this weird tingling began to form in his arm where the Nightmare dug its claws in, paralyzing his body with a cold numbness. Sonic shivered and the Nightmare seemed to smile in victory.

Its smile stopped when the moon began to move. The Nightmare dug its claws deeper into Sonic's frozen arm, but whatever it was trying to achieve, it was too late. The first rays of the uncovering sun hit the Nightmare, which instantly began to blister and swell as let go and dropped Sonic to the ground. Still slightly paralyzed, Sonic watched as the boiling creature let out blood-curling shrieks as fire ate away its charred body, until the Nightmare became nothing more than a pile of ashes.

"Eww." The blue hedgehog stood up and wiped away some of the ash that flew in his face. "But sheesh, no wonder Dark Gaia's chumps never appeared in the day! But if that's the case, why did these guys risk coming out?" He stopped by another trail of thought. Everything seemed fine, save his stinging arm the Nightmare grabbed, but that wasn't what troubled him.

The beach was quiet, too quiet.

"Tails?" he turned towards the seashore. Not a soul in sight. Despite his better judgment, our worried hero stepped into the ocean, going deeper after every name called.  
"Tails? Amy? Knuckles? Cream? Cheese? Anyone!" No reply. Sonic was risking even to go further when something streaked into the ocean.

Sonic lost whatever thin footing he had and was sucked deeper in the water, the currents swallowing him and other objects towards the collision site. He struggled and kicked up a storm, and perhaps if he didn't do this he would have floated safely to shore from the rebound waves, but that was not the case. Instead Sonic was stuck, blue enclosing him to his untimely doom. Phobia started to creep in, dancing through his thoughts. Using up the precious oxygen he had. Had to get out. Had to get out. He felt like the water was taunting him, trying to pull him down. It grabbed one of his legs, and in frenzy he kicked until it dissolved away. Sonic shuddered. Was that a hallucination? But it gave him a fresh wave of adrenaline, allowing him push himself upwards with renewed strength and hope. He wasn't gonna let some little water get the best of him: he was Sonic the Hedgehog after all.

But even that hope couldn't save him. Something grabbed his leg again, harder this time. Then an icy pain shot up his leg, forcing him inhale sharply. That was it for him. Water eagerly clogged up his lungs, suffocating the last amount of air in him. The hedgehog tried to find air, but there was no to give. Pressure pushed down on him. Cold slithered up his body, freezing everything in its path. The world was fading away, and his thoughts weren't far behind. Still, the stubborn hedgehog still fought back. He wasn't going to give up. There had to be a way. There was. There…

But the darkness finally took over, and he fell into an abyss of numbness.

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**old A/N: HEY! LOOK HERE! Okay, yay! There are a few things things to mention because the story might be confusing:**  
**As y'all noticed: the Gaia fight was in space or some weird dimension of space were gravity is somewhat included. Also this fight isn't as long as it sounds since a normal solar eclipse doesn't last more than 7 minutes (unsure really, y'all might want to google that) so everything that happens is super faster than normal. And DON'T ask how the heck they can survive in space without air but not in water. Ask the people who made Sonic X. Or its like asking how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? The world may never know.**  
**Okay! That's it for now. As usual, comment whatever you think about this or whatever you thought was confusing so the author can try to explain it.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Warning: the author noticed that their past self liked adding OCs.**

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Chapter 2

"Must you always be badly injured?"

Sonic's eyes fluttered open, greeted by an early sunset that sent a soft glow on the meadow in front of him. He found himself leaning on a large boulder in a sitting position, so that he not only saw the sunset but the forest and trickling stream on his right and left. Despite all that had happened, he felt strangely at ease, like he'd been to this beautiful place so many times. But he hadn't. And what was that voice talking about? Injured? he looked down and noticed that white strips of cloth were bundled tightly over his arms and legs. He bent his left leg to test it. Stiff, and a bit sore, but nothing a quick jog couldn't handle. It wasn't until he sprang to his feet did he feel the effects of the injury. Pain flared up his whole body and sent him crashing to the ground, hitting the back of his head in the process.

"And you still must always pretend they don't exist." The voice sighed. Sonic shook the stars out of his head to see who spoke. In front of him stood Any Rose; hands on her hips as she stared down at him with annoyance in her green eyes. "If this keeps up, you are going to have to find someone else to patch up your wounds, because I cannot stand this anymore!"

Falling back into this old routine, Sonic blinked up innocently at her "What wounds?" Amy puffed out a frustrated and he laughed. "Don't worry; I'll be good."

"You better," the pink hedgehog growled. She pulled out a stone bowl and began to mash up its contents. "Sometimes I wonder if you are even worth half the trouble you cause."

"I missed you too," the blue hedgehog smiled. Then he sat up, realization dawning on him. "If you're here… where are the others? Are they okay? Did those Nightmares attack you guys as well? Did you- what are you making?"

"Medicine. For you." She poured some water into the bowl. Immediately the air was filled with a smell so repugnant that Sonic had to remember that Amy was there to keep himself from throwing up. Amy, however, seemed more affected by his questions than the odor. "Yes, we were attacked, and most of them are okay. But why are you so worried? I thought you've never shown concern in the past."

"What do ya mean? Tails, Knux, Cream and Cheese are my friends. Why would I not show concern?"

The girl gave him an odd look. "Who are you talking about?" A frown formed at the corner of her mouth. "Did you hit your head too hard when you fell?"

"No!" he hesitated. "… well, maybe a little." Amy shook her head.

"See what happens when you do not listen to me? Here, the medicine will clear your mind." She lifted up the bowl to him, and a new wave a nausea rolled in.

"Amy," he gagged. "I know you worked hard to make that and all, but I'm fine! I know what I'm talking about. We were at the beach when those Nightmares attacked. Then I got separated from you guys, but now were back together with me trying to avoid death by...er…whatever that stuff is. But all that matters is that I'm back and you guys are safe, right Amy?"

The pink hedgehog stopped. "Who is Amy?"

"You are!" Sonic flung his hands up in the air. "You're Amy Rose, the girl whose-!" his eyes bulged out, staring at the cloth unwrapping from his arms. Except they weren't his arms; these were a midnight blue, lush and thick with fur overlapping bulging muscles. He took off his glove, and out sprang five pale gray fingers, each equipped with wickedly sharp claws.

"Hon, are you alright?" Amy asked, but Sonic ignored her. Crawling to the edge of the stream, he took a deep breath and stared down.

"No," he whispered. "Not again."

For staring back at him was the werehog. The werehog he got rid of with Chip some time werehog that was grimacing at him now, its hungry eyes filled with shock and loathing.

"It's getting dark," Amy sighed. Beside him, a new reflection appeared; and it wasn't Amy's. Muddled features of a pretty echidna smiled back at him, her purple and orange skin glistening under her pink dress. "I cannot stay any longer." The girl leaned down and kissed his head. That woke him from his Narcissus-like trance. He turned to her as she glided into the creek, vapors of purple, pink, and orange gently descending in the water. "Be good and be safe, my love." Her sky-blue eyes twinkled with tears that dripped into the creek like the rest of her body. "And do not be upset of what has happened; Che sera, sera. Remember to take your medicine."

"Wait, what? Hold on!" but she was gone; the last wisps of her trickling away in the water.

As the rest of the scenery began fading away, the stone bowl remained. It floated closer and closer, the contents sloshing and wriggling to his mouth..

"No wait! I'm okay. I'm really am. No...No, I'm-" 

* * *

"Okay!" Sonic yelped, jerking up and slamming his head hard.

"Ow," the hedgehog muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "Seems like I need to make amends with the boulder gods because I've successfully annoyed them today." He opened his eyes. Instead of the open field, he found his self in a warm cave, barely filtering enough light for outlines of stalactites to stand out. Quickly he patted down his arms and legs. No wraps, no bulky muscles- it was just a dream. A weird dream. Just like the meadow, he felt like he knew that echidna. But he never had seen her till now. Probably best to ask Knuckles about her, once he found him and the others. With that in mind he got to his feet. Which way next? Cold waves sloshed at his shoes from the right, and he immediately sprang away. Well, that explained how he got here, and there was no way in CHAOS he'd take that route out.

"Soo, left it is." Whistling, he set off deeper in the cave. Of course, he had no clue where he was going and there was only enough light to see something at the last second, but where's the fun without a little adventure?

Adventure time fizzled into boredom, especially since time seemed to stretch as long as the cave itself. At least progress was being made; the dripping of water stopped, stalagmites were more visible. However, this observation didn't quite settle with Sonic's attention span. Nevertheless the blue hedgehog found a way to manage.

"Sixty-nine bottles of pop on the wall. Sixty-nine bottles of pop! Take one- hmm?"

Finally, the cave offered more than stalagmites and stalactites; a spilt.  
"Oh, no!" Sonic clutched his heart dramatically and eyed the heavens. "How could you do this to me? Now which way will I go?"  
He was taken aback when the tunnel responded. Weird hisses and clicks came from the left route, and without hesitation ran towards the sound, not even caring anymore about the stalagmites. He skid to a stop. The noise had disappeared and the tunnel split again. Unable to pick up the sound again, he growled in frustration. That's when he noticed he was on all fours.

"Umm…okay." Sonic got up, picking off stubs of stone biting in his skin. The wounds didn't bother him, but he just ruined a nice pair of gloves. What was that about? Sure, he'd done some crazy things in the past, but he wasn't **THAT** bored.  
Noise came from the right, but this time it was different. It sounded like…crying. Bending in to enter, he took a step and immediately slipped from the slick floor of the tunnel. Luckily he was too big to fall into the empty pit below. Peering in, he saw a small silhouette of a shaking ball. Pink sparkles glittered from the top of its body. Sonic took it as a friendly sign. "Hello down there!"

Immediately the ball silenced and scooted a little farther from sight. Oh, right: stranger danger.

"Wait! Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Sonic the Hedgehog. What's yours?"

There was a pause. "Matilda," the voice sniffled. Judging from the tone, Sonic guessed the little girl was about Cream's age. Probably younger.

"Nice to meet you Matilda. It sure is slippery. I'm guessing you fell in. I'm going to help you get out, okay?"

"Okay." She clasped his outstretched hand and was gently pulled out.

"Alrighty then, I don't know about you, but I'm actually a little lost. I did see some light though, so follow me because we have to-"

"Oh, I know how to get out." Matilda interrupted. "I've been here lots of times."

"Please say the way out doesn't involve water" the blue hedgehog begged. She giggled.

"No it's really close. I'll show you!" they went through the left route that led them to a cavern full of different warrens. Without hesitation she went in the opening that was farthest right and in no time they emerged in broad daylight.

"Whew," Sonic wiped his forehead and grinned. "I thought I'd never get out of there! Thanks Matilda."

"You're welcome." The little mole curtsied, her pink dress and bow bobbling up and down. "And thank you for rescuing me! It was really dark and scary in there."

"No problemo. But next time you go to the cave, bring a flashlight and someone with you."

The little mole nodded. "I know. Usually I come with my big brother, but today I really wanted to finish my map." She pulled out a little notepad with drawings and other scribbles on it. "See?" she beamed proudly as she gave it to him. "I'm an explorer!"

Sonic examined the notepad approvingly. Though the drawings were not the best, she had detailed accuracy of all the routes. "These are really good! But what do the 'x'es mean?" he handed her back the notepad to her.

"Those? There area's that I can't explore because there really dangerous. One of the routes has really tall and sharp needle rocks that my brother cut himself on once when trying to climb it. So I mark it with a big, fat x." Matilda smiled up at him. "You should see them- there really cool! But don't without me because I don't want you to get lost again, understand?" She shook her finger at him like a parent scolding a little child. Sonic laughed and straighten into an exaggerated military pose.

"Yes ma'am!" he saluted, puffing out his lower lip in a pout. Matilda laughed at his silly pose and he joined in. Finally he looked at the sky. It was getting pretty late and her parents were no doubt looking for her. "Okay, Matilda. I think it's time to go home; your parents are probably worried sick. Can you lead me to your house?"

"Yeah! It's at the end of that road." She pointed to a path that cut through the forest.  
"Seems kind of far." He whistled. "Not to worry; I'll get us there in sonic speed. Climb on my shoulder."

Matilda did, blinking in confusion. "Sonic speed? What's that?"

"Oh, you'll find out," he chuckled. "Just hold on tight. Ready? Here. We. GO!"

He zoomed out in the distance, Matilda's screams of delight following after.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

In no time at all they were at Matilda's house, arriving right at the spot of a large crowd of police and people.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Matilda jumped off Sonic's back and ran into the outstretched arms of two tired parents, who burst into tears of joy. After a long while, they let go of their child.

"Where have you been!" The mother screamed, anger bubbling in her features. "Do you know how long we've been searching? And that your brother is halfway across the village looking for you!?" She would of probably spanked the quivering little mole right then and there if she didn't remember that there was a crowd watching. Her husband patted her shoulder as she took a deep breath. Then another.

"I'm sorry mamma!" Matilda sobbed. "I went exploring and I fell in a hole and I couldn't get out until Mr. Sonic came and saved me." She pointed out Sonic, who was standing a bit of a distance away. He nodded. "And then I had to help him out of the cave cause he was lost, and then we got here."

One of the police officers who were slowly beleaguering him straitened up. "Sonic- as in Sonic the Hedgehog?"  
"The one and only." The blue hedgehog grinned and secretly sighed with relief. Luckily he was so famous that he wouldn't be questioned here because right now with his ripped gloves and mattered fur, he undoubtedly looked like some crazy hobo or thuggee raised from the back of the alleyways. Probably the type you wouldn't want meeting your kid alone in a really dark cave.

"Nevertheless, your grounded for a long time from exploring little missy," the dad said sternly, turning back most of the attention to the family. "Do you understand?" The little mole nodded.  
The mom spoke up. " And from a lot of other things too, Matilda! Like… like…!" she scooped up her daughter in her arms, tears shaking down her cheeks. "Just don't do anything like this ever again baby. We were all so worried about you and when we couldn't find you we thought… well, just don't do this again." She kissed the top of her daughter's head and then approached Sonic, gratitude overflowing in her eyes. "Thank you so much for saving our little Matilda. Is there any way we can repay you?"  
"No need to repay me ma'am," the hedgehog answered politely. "Just doing my job. Plus it was really nice to meet Matilda. She an amazing kid and without her help I would still be stuck in that cave."  
"Sonic's amazing too!" Matilda squirmed out of her parents' grasp and climbed onto her hero's shoulder, waving her arms excitedly. "He went sonic speed and we went ZOOM through the forest and it took only six-no three! 3 seconds to reach the house and…" The little mole babbled on and on. Sonic laughed and handed her back to her smiling parents.  
"Sorry Matilda. I got to go find my friends. But I promise that the next time I see you I'll take you for a run." He looked back up at her parents. "Have you seen anyone new pass in this area? My friends and I got separated after those freaky comets hit the earth and I've been searching for them ever since." He gave the names and detailed descriptions of each of his friends. The mom shook her head, but the dad scratched his chin thoughtfully.  
"I never seen anyone new since the incident happened a day ago, but I today in the forest I spotted something red moving around though I couldn't tell if it was a friend of yours or not."  
Yes! Score for this hedgehog! The others were probably in the forest as well. He asked where in the forest he saw it. The father mole gave a shrug.  
"I don't really recall where, but if you try Turtle's Cliff, you can see the whole forest and spot out your friends if they're in there. The cliff is a few miles from here to right side of the cave."  
Seemed like a good place to start. He thanked the mole family, gave Matilda one last hug, and streaked off to Turtle's Cliff. 

* * *

It wasn't called Turtle's Cliff for nothing. After passing the cave, the scenery escalated into a very high slope, with a blanket of tall grass and shrubs sprouting on it. At the very edge suspending from the slope was a rocky cliff poking out of the green, and two identical black rocks jagging out of the sides like eyes. At the very tip of this turtle's 'head' was Sonic, scanning the thick forest below for any signs of his friends below. This was his third time at this spot; the other times he ran through all the forest and village as well but he had no luck. His luck didn't improve here either since the wind was pushing a parade of clouds over the whole sky, making everything harder to see in the night. some moonlight would of helped. Yawning, he was deciding of finding a place to hit the sack when pale light engulfed him, stretching over the forest as well as the clouds parted. He looked up and the moon stared back at him, released of its imprisonment of clouds to show off its slow wane. Well, that was better. The hedgehog crouched down again for the last check of the night. The wind picked up and ruffled his spikes a bit, but he didn't mind.

Sonic ears perked up. Was someone… speaking? He listened closely, but he didn't hear anything unusual. His imagination? Yah, probably, but it wouldn't hurt to respond. "Hel-loo! Anybody there?"  
The response was deafening. the sound came from everywhere and nowhere, piercing his head until he couldn't even hear his own thoughts anymore. All he could do was cover his ears in attempts to block it out as it whispered one word over and over. "_I…I…_" then as abruptly as it came, the voice stopped.  
Shakily, Sonic got to his feet, ready to face whatever-whoever it was. "Nice try, but did you really think a measly headache was going to take down me down?" He laughed, trying to lure the person out. He walked away from the cliff's edge towards the Turtle's body. "Keep dreaming then. Why don't you try crawling out that hole of yours and fight!" Even though he appeared relaxed and careless while still taunting the voice, tension was building inside him. Every shadow, every moving shrub, every ruffle of grass caught his eye- but none of these movements gave away to someone hiding among them.

"_I_." a loud crack shot up- and Sonic was on the ground, his whole body arching as the rest of his vertebrae began to shift and break. The crackling intensified as the rest of his appendages reformed, pushing against his flesh when the bulging muscles did not increase fast enough, for a moment a slight ripping sound could be heard as the remaining fabrics of his gloves ruptured from the enormous pale gray hands that dug in the stone with newly sharpened claws.

"_MUST"_ Every fiber in his body screamed in pain. He tried to scream as well, but nothing could come out as his jawbone began to morph. Left in this twisted face of agony, he could feel fangs growing in his mouth, tainted with a copper taste from the bleeding of his gums. New weight pushed down as his body sprouted longer, lush blue fur which then darkened into a midnight color and brightening in some areas white.

"_BREAK_" Even mentally he wasn't safe. Through the mix of the anguish and change, he felt the loss of control in his left leg. Then his right. Something was rising up inside of him; pushing him back into the depth of his mind. No! this was his body; his mind. Closing his eyes in concentration, Sonic struggled to keep himself in control, fighting to ram the force back down. The harder he pushed, the bigger the tugging sensation gnawed in his gut, growing stronger and stronger until…

Until he finally opened his grey eyes and howled into the night. **"FREE."**


End file.
